Mayor Todd Gloria and his team want the owner of the defunct California Theater to tear down the downtown venue that has been closed for more than 30 years.
The city’s head of development services this week sent a letter to developer Caydon Property Group, which recently abandoned its city-mandated redevelopment plan for the area, criticizing the company’s “appalling lack of action” on security concerns. The director also expressed his inability to submit a future plan to tear down the theater by Friday’s deadline set by the city amid growing concerns about the condition of the building. The letter also stated that the developer had not repaired the fence around the theater to stop the falling hazard, pay security or install the required fire alarm.
Gloria said Wednesday night that the city is referring the case to the City of Mara Elliott’s Nuisance Abatement Unit for failing to comply.
“The lack of action by the private owner in addressing code violations and the need to fix them is unacceptable – and frankly, we have lost the patience and consequences of nearby residents and businesses because of their negligence,” Gloria said in a statement. “The city is escalating this matter quickly and will be securing the building and remediating the risk with the owner.”
On Wednesday afternoon, the Voice of San Diego found the eight-story building at Fourth Avenue and C Street lined with graffiti and surrounded by homeless residents and a chain link fence with multiple openings near the clear doors on the ground floor of the theater. The rope that was attached to the fire escape route sank into the side of the building and caused the doors to open onto the ramp where many people were walking inside.
Jessica Cox, who manages The Local Eatery & amp; Drinking Hole across the street, called the police on Wednesday after he saw people inside the building while he was talking to a Voice reporter about “the rot, and asbestos, human waste, everything, drugs, rats, pigeons” collected there.
“It’s dangerous,” Cox said. “There’s not much I can say about it. The whole thing is about to explode. There’s no saving it. There’s nothing to do with it.”
Mia, who told the Voice that she sometimes spends the night on C Street, agreed. He described the building as “unstable” and said he had seen rats coming out of it. He also said that some people who sleep inside the house break glass and throw stones at people who are sleeping outside.
“They want to get a big investor or just take it down,” Mia said.
Gloria and her team now want the owner – or eventual owner – to plan to demolish the building.
It is not known who will make it happen.
The California Theater is now up for sale and McGrathNicol, the Australian-acclaimed owner of the venue following the removal of Melbourne-based Caydon, responded to a series of questions from the Voice with a statement promising to remedy the situation.
“Caydon San Diego Property LLC has recently completed a management change,” McGrathNicol wrote in a statement. “Its new members aim to work proactively with all stakeholders in the city of San Diego to implement a plan to improve the safety, security and accessibility of the area in the near future.”
The company has not said whether it will proceed with the demolition and as of early Thursday, Gloria’s office said the developer and its receiver — which was not named in the city’s letter of intent — had not responded.
But Gloria spokeswoman Rachel Laing said real estate lender Jones Lang LaSalle, which pitched the building to developers earlier this year, told the city that a potential buyer of the California Theater is doing business and “know(s) the theater needs to be torn down.”
There has been talk of demolishing the California Theater before.
The theater at Fourth Avenue and C Street first opened in April 1927, the first to host vaudeville and silent films. It then welcomed concert goers.
In 1990, there were plans to demolish the building to make way for an office tower. That never happened and there have been a series of ownership changes and discussions about what to do about the phase-out structure from City Hall since then.
In 2017, the conservation group Save Our Heritage Organization sued to stop a 40-story housing project there and after a Supreme Court victory, the group reached a settlement with the developer.
In late 2019, developer Caydon purchased the building and undertook a renovation that required the eventual architect to preserve and rebuild parts of the California Theatre’s current facade and recreate its Caliente mural.
In spring 2021, Caydon received approval from the city to move forward with a 41-story hotel and condo complex with ground-floor retail.
But Caydon never took further steps with the city to move forward and last month, the Union-Tribune broke the news that the California Theater was up for sale again.
“JLL, as the exclusive consultant, is pleased to offer the opportunity to acquire a development site in downtown San Diego,” read an April development email sent to developers and obtained by UT. “Theatre House is a trophy development that has absolute rights to a 41-storey development but can be re-entitled to a different use under the existing zoning.”
The email stated that the new owner could “re-provision the site for multiple homes, a hotel and/or office” or take the permit held by Caydon in 2021 that could be used for another two years.
Complaints and concerns about the California Theater have continued to abound since Caydon first advertised the property for sale.
At the end of June, an engineer in the Department of Development Services of the city inspected the condition of the building and wrote in a subsequent report that even the police do not set foot in the stadium.
“Two SDPD officers joined us at the site, but since the interior construction areas were deemed unsafe, and contain hazardous materials in a highly toxic environment, they will not enter the buildings,” chief structural engineer Miguel Sinclair wrote in a July 27 memo. “A warning has been given that people entering these buildings will be doing so at their own risk.”
Sinclair described finding “multiple signs of door/window openings” and exposed roof beams confirming the audio was “extremely rotten” which led him to question whether the structural system could continue to provide adequate support.
Sinclair also called for urgent measures “to protect the right of the public from the danger of falling jewelry” or other building materials.
Development Services Director Elyse Lowe wrote in a letter this week that she told Caydon’s Houston-based executive at a July 27 meeting that the California Theater was “in a very poor condition, unsafe and a danger to the public” that required immediate action.
Five days after the July 27 meeting, COO Emma Alexander submitted a letter of intent requested by the city to authorize San Diego police to request the removal of offenders and to have them prosecuted for violations on its property.
But Lowe noted in Tuesday’s letter that Alexander said at the meeting that Caydon “has no plans to continue to renovate or renovate the property due to costs and that it is currently listed for sale” even though he planned to raise funds for fire protection. encouragement.
Lowe noted that the city reviewed the fines daily until fire watches were in place and conducted bi-weekly inspections. He also wrote that the city will continue to “record any notices issued about this property” to the county auditor’s office.
Whatever happens, SOHO’s Bruce Coons said his security team will be watching.
Coons believes the demolition of the California Theater could violate the court order and the group’s settlement and said SOHO wants to work with whoever ends up taking the property.
In recent history, Coons said members of his group complained to the city about the condition of the building and were disappointed to see what it had become.
“It’s bad,” Coons said. “We all want to see something happen there.”